Chocolate Snowballs ....

Christmas parties have started ... these were a real hit!! 

seeing as so many people have been asking ... i'll share the recipe !! 

Ingredients: 

4 oz dark Chocolate (melted and cooled)

4 oz milk Chocolate (melted and cooled)

1 + 1/2 cups plain flour 

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 + 1/3 cups light brown sugar

2 large eggs1 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup of milk

1 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

1 cup icing sugar (for rolling)

in a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt until well mixed

in a large bowl beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy.

add eggs and vanilla extract and beat well until combined

add chocolate and beat until blended

with mixer on low add flour and milk bit by bit alternating between the two until just combined

divide the dough into quarters and wrap in cling film and stick it in the fridge for at least two hours (i left mine overnight)

preheat oven to 180 degrees and line cookie sheets with baking paper

place your sugar into two separate bowls

roll your mixture  into balls i got bout 12 out of each portion of mixture (leave the mixture until the very last minute, do one packet at a time as it melts quickly especially if your a hot blooded creature like me)

roll each ball through the granulated sugar and then through the icing sugar

place on your tray about 2 inches apart - they grow massively in the oven

cook for about 12 - 15 minutes 

leave them to cool on a cooling racks and store in airtight containers for up to a week - but trust me - you'll struggle to keep them that long

3 ways to sterilize you jars

The Oven Method 

   Heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4 - don't be tempted to heat the oven any higher or you may risk the glass breaking. Lay a double layer of newspaper on each oven shelf but not the floor of the oven. Arrange the jars on the shelf making sure the jars are not touching each other. Close the oven door and sterilize the jars for about 20 minutes. Using thick oven mitts, remove each jar from the oven as needed onto a heatproof mat or heat pad, making sure you fill while the jam or preserve is hot as is the jar. Do NOT add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars.

Use you Dishwasher 

Fill your dishwasher with clean cold jars and run a minimum or rinse wash to time the ending with when your jam, preserve or pickle will be ready. Use the jars one at a time from the dishwasher needed making sure you fill while the jam or preserve is hot as is the jar. Do NOT add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars

Or your Microwave ... 

     Clean the jars as normal, rinse but leave the jars a little wet. Microwave for no more than one minute.

a few extra tips ...

1.                 Do NOT add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars.

2.                 Remove jars from the oven or dishwasher only when needed or they will cool down too much.

3.                 Always sterilize more jars than you think you will need. Should you have more mixture than anticipated it is too late to start sterilizing once the food is ready.

4.                 Leave jams, preserves or pickles to settle for 15 minutes before sealing

Ch Ch Ch Ch Chilli Jam

if you love cheese as much as i do and love a bit of chutney with your crackers and like a bit of spice this is for you !! I grew homegrown chillies to make mine with but i must confess i had to buy a few more to add in as you do need quite a lot to make this recipe, I got about 6 small jars out of it though, so you could always half or even quarter the recipe. Unless you make this as a christmas gift and give it away which is what i'm doing (homemade hampers all the way)

Ingredients:

150g red chillies (deseeded and chopped up into large chunks - use plastic gloves to stop the chilli getting on your fingers)

150g red pepper (again deseeded and chopped into big chunks)
1kg Jam Sugar
600ml Cider Vinegar
6x 250ml Jars

How to ...

Sterilize your jars
put your chillies and peppers into the food processor and blitz until you get fine flecks of chili
dissolve the sugar in the vinegar slowly over a low heat (you do need quite a large pan)
DO NOT STIR - let it dissolve on its own
add the chili mixture to the pan and bring to the boil for 10 minutes
take off heat and allow to cool
leave to thicken for about 40 minutes
then ladle into the jars and seal tightly

Keep you jam in a cool dark place for  up to a year, but once opened it needs keeping in the fridge and it should keep for about a month.

who likes a low fat dessert thats tasty ???

I DO !! this one was goooooooood !!

This is a FROZEN STRAWBERRY MERINGUE CAKE

Ingredients:                                                              For the Coulis:
low fat cooking spray                                              200g Strawberries (chopped finely)
150g amaretti biscuits (crushed)                             1 tbs Icing Sugar
50g low fat spread, melted
2 egg whites
60g caster sugar
250g ripe strawberries (chopped finely)
1 tbs lemon juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract

You need a springform 9 inch tin for this one lined with baking paper

Spray the lined tray with cooking spray
mix together the biscuits with the low fat spread in a bowl and push into the bottom of the tray
Stick in the fridge until needed
put your egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks form (you need a very very clean bowl)
add the sugar a little at a time and whisk to mix it in
fold in the strawbs, lemon juice and vanilla
spoon mixture on top and  spread out evenly with a spatula or palette knife
freeze for 3 hours 
make the coulis by blitzing the strawberries and sugar in a blender (you can sieve it if you want it pip free but i left them in)
remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving
slice and serve with drizzled coulis
if you slice this pud into 8 pieces each slice is only 4 weight watchers pro points
and an 8th is a fairly big slice  - yummy "healthy" pud !! :)

lovely leeks and homegrown too

These leeks are so simple yet so delicious ... 5 ingredients in total. 

leeks           veg stock cube             water                butter             wine 

melt the butter in the pan (quite a big lump but really you can use what you need - butter is key though i dont think low fat spray would produce the same flavour, cut up your leeks, (I used 4 medium leeks - they shrink no end) keep stirring the leeks on a low heat, then the star ingredient: the wine, this added a gorgeous undertone to these buttery leeks ... I had a small glass full left in the bottle and i used that, crumble in the stock cube and simmer. I added water as need, a little at a time depending on how dry your leeks are getting,  and i cooked until the leeks were softnened! mmmm mmm I served these with sausage and mash, but literally i think they'd go with any roast meet or anything. 

cute cupcakes ...

I had lots of fun with these :)
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Living with the in-laws and not doing a lot of my own cooking.

Enjoy these photos of my lemon curd cupcakes. I had so much fun trying out my first attempt at icing and making flowers and stuff ... It was a lovely activity. I got one of those icing syringes as a birthday gift and had to try it out. Plus my mother in -law is a master cake decorator and showed me how to do the little flowers and let me into the secrets of her cake decorating box. (i have never seen so many different colours of food colouring.

spinach and sweet potato curry ....

this curry is so delicious ... creamy and an absolutly beautiful taste.

It's really easy to make as well ... here's the recipe,

2 sweet potatoes (cubed)
200g spinach (roughly chopped)
400g coconut milk ( I use the low fat stuff)
1 onion
madras curry paste ( i use about 2 tbsps but its up to you)

the easy steps:
- fry the chopped onions
- add the paste and cook for two minutes
- pour in coconut milk and sweet potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes until soft
- stir through spinach until wilted

i served this with a low fat tikka masala and rice, poppadums and naan ... it was a bit of a feast. It was a lovely evening with good food and good friends ... i forgot to take a photo ... so my lovely friend Alex took one the next day with the left overs she took home !! :)

Mojito anyone ?

Mojito cheesecake ... for the brother in law who loves his mojitos.

Sorry i haven't blogged in a while ... it's been a combo of moving house and the old weight watchers ... I'm actually going to the class now so i have to be really good !!

Heres the recipe ... all i'd say on this one is you don't really need to be a fan of mojitos ... but you do need a sweet tooth!And you need time ... it takes a while ... but it' not difficult ... the work is simple and quick it's just a waiting game ... I'd suggest that you bake this the day before and let it cool overnight.

Ingredients:

900g cream cheese

1.5 cups of sugar
3 tbsp flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup of lime juice (i used bottled)
2 oz rum
5 oz evaporated milk
1 or 2 teaspoons of dried mint leaves (chopped finely)
115g mascapone
75g fromage frais
(the mascapone and fromage frais make a topping which could be left out if you felt that was too much)
a lime for decoration (optional)
digestives + butter for base (i cant remember the quantitiies - look on line for a base recipe)
Method: 

Preheat oven to 250degrees
crush your biscuits, and mix with melted butter, then press into tin
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and flour until very smooth
Add eggs one at a time
Add rum, lime juice and condensed milk mix together well and add mint, stirring until evenly spread
Pour into prepared pan (i use a spring loaded tin)
Bake on 250 for 15 minutes and then turn down to 130 for a full hour
(I actually baked mine in my mums gas oven and the temperature was gas 8 and then needed to turn it down to 1/4 but my mums cooker doesn't go that low so i put it on gas mark 1)
Leave to cool completly nd then refrigerate before serving ... it's a bit of a long process ... 
To make the topping all you do is mix the mascapone and the fromage frais until really well combined and spread over the cooled cheesecake. 

chocca mocha caramel cake

This was a great cake ... not weight watchers ... but truly delicious ... I don't think i need say anything else ;)

Cake Ingredients:

1+1/2 tsp fresh ground coffee/ 2 tsp instant coffee
2 tbsp cocoa
175g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup
200g self raising flour
4 tbsp milk
100g chocolate caramel bars (broken into pieces)

Icing:
100g chocolate caramel bar
50g butter
2 tbsp milk
100g icing sugar

Instructions ...

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Line your cake tin
Mix the coffee, cocoa and 2 tablespoons of hot water into a smooth paste
Place all cake ingredients except the chocolate caramel bars into a large bowl (including coffee paste) and beat until smooth
Add the pieces of caramel bar and stir in
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes
Cool on a wire rack

For the icing:

Heat the caramel bar gently with the butter and milk until smooth (stir continuously)
Remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar
Leave to cool then transfer to serving dish
Spread the icing over the cooled cake

And .... enjoy !! :)

roasted pepper and garlic fougasse and garlic and herb fougasse

Mmmm mmmm mmm ... I am loving this fougasse !! It's amazing and looks awesome to present to friends ... and whats more it looks like you've put a lot more effort into it than you have !! :) 

I got Tim to make the dough for me ... it's just the same dough recipe as before ... bread dough recipe

So here's what i did: roasted pepper and garlic fougasse

Ingredients:

1/2 ready prepared dough (see link above for recipe)
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small spring onion
2 cloves of garlic
a few glugs of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of oregano

Do this prep whilst your dough is rising.

chop the peppers to centimeter square pieces .... and dice the spring onions,
peel the garlic cloves and cut into 6 pieces,
put this in an oven dish and slow roast on about 150 degrees for 40 mins stirring half way through.

When your dough is ready take about half the pepper mix and knead into the dough ... then roll it out onto a lightly oiled tray and puch the rest of the pepper mix in with your fingers.

roasted pepper and garlic fougasse

garlic and herb fougasse

garlic and herb fougasse:

all you need for this one is...

1/2 of the prepared dough (as above)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of thyme
1 tsp marjoram
2 tsp worth of fresh basil leaves (ripped up with you hands)
1 tbs of grated cheese

It's very simple again ...

knead your herbs into the dough, and roll out onto a lightly oiled tray
chop your garlic cloves into small chunks and push them in across the dough
take very small ammounts of cheese and push them in as well

there you go it's ready for baking

beautiful berry muffins for tea ...

These are a treat for my good friends who were spending the evening with tonight!
I am on weight watchers and i've walked past the box about 100 times and resisted .... but then i gave in ... after about an hour i gave up on feeling guilty and worked out the points to see quite how naughty i'd been ...

turns out not so bad ... only 4.5 ww points per muffin !! lol so i'll just have to eat less later !! and not enjoy another muffin!

heres the recipe so you can try these muffins ... they're really light and fluffy .. and fresh strawbs make them taste like summer !! these would be a great easy dessert for a bbq ... i think served with a big helping of coconut ice-cream (i mean vanilla would be fine but coconut is summery too!!)

Ingredients:
2.5 cups of SR Flour/ 375g
90g cold butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar/ 220g
3/4 cup milk ( i use 1% milk)
1/2 cup low fat natural yog
1 egg beaten lightly
200g of berries - fresh or frozen ... i used half fresh strawberries and half frozen mixed berries

It's really easy to do ....

* preheat oven to 180 degrees, and grease your muffin tin
* sift flour into large bowl (if you dont have a sieve, use a whisk after you've put your flour in the bowl ... give it a quick whiz round ... this has the same effect - thanks to hugh at river cottage for that advise)
*rub in the butter
*stir in sugar, milk, yoghurt, and egg
*the mixture will look a bit lumpy (see pic above)
*add the berries and mix them in lightly
* spoon mixture into tray
*bake for about 20 mins
*cool on a wire tray

my messy kitchen !!

so there you have it ... another quick recipe to spin out for your family and friends

homemade chicken jalfrezi

This is great ! Low fat !! and super delicious !!
I think this is the nicest dinner i've had since being on weight watchers ... it felt naughty ... eating a huge plate of curry ... but it was only three points. yes thats right ... three points !!
You just have to add your rice//naan.

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 large onion , halved, sliced
    * 2-3 green chillies , sliced
    * 3 garlic cloves , crushed
    * 1 large chicken breast, cut into chunks
    * 5 tomatoes , roughly chopped // ½ can chopped tomatoes
    * a few handfuls of spinach
    * a small pot low fat natural yogurt (optional)
    * naan bread or steamed rice to serve

SPICE MIX

    * 2 tsp curry powder
    * ½ tsp ground cumin
    * 1 tsp chilli powder
    * 1 cinnamon stick
    * 5 cloves , ground


Put the onion and a good pinch of salt into a large pan, then fry for about 6-8 minutes until golden.

 Add the chillies and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spice mix and cook for another couple of minutes until fragrant.

 Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes then add the tomatoes and a splash of water and stir well.

Cover the pan and cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce thickened (uncover the pan if you need to for the last 10 minutes).

Stir in the yogurt off the heat (if using) for a creamier sauce.

Serve with naans or steamed rice.

bread bread and more bread

If any of you have ever heard my husbands descripton of my bread baked in my breadmaker you'll know he uses the word 'brick' quite regularly.

So i decided to surprise him when he got home from a weekend away with a fresh baked hand made loaf ... which he loved !! :)

So heres what i did ...

Ingredients:
500g strong white bread flour (plus extra flour for dusting)
7g sachet of fast action yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:
Mix flour and yeast together into a large bowl.
Add the salt and sugar.
Boil the kettle and measure out 100 ml of boiling water into a jug, make the water up to 300ml with cold water then add the oil.
Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the liquid and mix (i use my hands).

When its mixed into a sticky dough its time to knead so flour your surface and have fun.
Knead until the dough is smooth.
When  it's smooth put it back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel, i put mine on the windowsil to help the rising process, leave it for an hour.
Put dough back on floured surface and give it a small knead again.
Shape and then place on an oiled oven tray, cover and leave to rise for another 30 mins.

ready to bake

Bake at 220 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes.

i also made this ...

a Cheddar, red onion and thyme tear and share bread

What you need is ...
Dough made as above (up until it's risen for 1 hour)
1 onion
40g cheddar cheese
2 tsp of thyme

What you have to do is ...

make the bread (as before) up to the first rising time of 1hour.
Then slice your onion really small and cut your self some cubes of cheddar.
Place your dough on a floured surface and knead in your onion and thyme.
Cut your dough in two and roll one half into a rectangular shape.
Place on an oiled tray and then slice a long line diagonally (as in picture), then cut 2/3 more slices either side to create a leaf shape.
Poke your cheese cubes into the bread at various intervals.

Bake at 220 degrees for 13-15 minutes.